Residents in William Street campaign against road improvements

RESIDENTS are urging the council to leave their road alone and not spend money on ‘improvements’.

Plans are in place to resurface footpaths in William Street but neighbours say they want to keep their flagstones.

Jan Godfrey, who lives in the Northwich road, said: “How can anyone consider digging up a perfectly good section of paving to replace it with an inferior covering of tarmac?

“We have seen the awful state of the tarmac pavements in the locality and noticed the speed at which weeds penetrate this medium and when this happens it is difficult to tidy again.

“Tarmac cannot be brushed effectively and disinfected after dogs have fouled.”

Jan and her neighbour John Evans take pride in their stretch of the footpath and keep it clean and clear of weeds.

They fear that the new surface will not be as enduring as the flagstones.

John said: “A few of the neighbours are against the plans because tarmac isn’t going to be as solid.

“I could understand if the flags were all broken and up and down but they’re not.

“We’re dead against it.”

Jan said the pavement and a section of brickwork for car parking have been in place for 35 years without sinking and fears that tarmac will not last as long.

She added: “How this can be considered for council tax spending is beyond us when if you take a look at the back of the houses you can see they alleyways are in a disgusting, unhygienic state and after rain we have to paddle through the mud and cat faeces to fetch out bins back because the binmen leave them all at the end of the alley.”

A spokesman for Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC) said: “We are improving the footway in William Street by replacing the existing concrete flagstones and blocks with a new bitumen surface.

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“The new surface will be flexible and hardwearing, unlike the current footway which is easily damaged by vehicles parking on it.

“We have listened to the concerns of two residents who told us they would prefer to keep the flags and blocks.

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“However, we have decided to proceed with the scheme on the basis that the improvements are in the best interests of the wider community.

“This scheme will also save taxpayers’ money in the longer term as the new surface will require considerably less maintenance.”

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Comments (2)

We will gladly have your paving stones for in Queen Street the condition and level of the pavement in our area is an accident waiting to happen. It clear that the council have got their paving priorities wrong and need to go to Spec Save!

We will gladly have your paving stones for in Queen Street the condition and level of the pavement in our area is an accident waiting to happen. It clear that the council have got their paving priorities wrong and need to go to Spec Save!Residential

We will gladly have your paving stones for in Queen Street the condition and level of the pavement in our area is an accident waiting to happen. It clear that the council have got their paving priorities wrong and need to go to Spec Save!

Score: 12

hectorplain says...9:36pm Thu 10 Jul 14

Those paving slabs, yes the ones in William Street, see above picture, yes those, they look like the old council quality, 2 inches thick. If laid correctly on a firm substrate they will last many decades without cracking or tilting. (Stop me if I am getting too technical). Any road, they look fine to me so for pity's sake leave them be, go and fix the holes in the road if you have underspent my budget.

Those paving slabs, yes the ones in William Street, see above picture, yes those, they look like the old council quality, 2 inches thick.
If laid correctly on a firm substrate they will last many decades without cracking or tilting. (Stop me if I am getting too technical).
Any road, they look fine to me so for pity's sake leave them be, go and fix the holes in the road if you have underspent my budget.hectorplain

Those paving slabs, yes the ones in William Street, see above picture, yes those, they look like the old council quality, 2 inches thick. If laid correctly on a firm substrate they will last many decades without cracking or tilting. (Stop me if I am getting too technical). Any road, they look fine to me so for pity's sake leave them be, go and fix the holes in the road if you have underspent my budget.

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